[net.space] SPACE Digest V5 #208 -- angular momentum

@S1-A.ARPA,@MIT-MC.ARPA:MINSKY@MIT-OZ (07/09/85)

From: MINSKY%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA



Adding a counter-rotating mass will indeed cancel the changes of
angular momentum of the spacecraft.  The added mass will, of course,
increase the ship's moment of intertia and also its mass.  However,
the additional mass can be made arbitrarily small by using a small
mass out on a long moment-arm.

Here is a cute solution which adds no mass to speak of: use two
identical film and take-up reels, each of half the mass, running in
opposite directions, and expose frames alternately, or something like
that.  Then everything will cancel out perfectly.